Happy Campers
by bohemiangirl
Summary: MerDer. Meredith and Derek take a camping trip together to reignite their romance. How will they cope out in the wilderness away from the security of the hospital? How will they handle wild weather, wild animals and wild neighbours? Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

Please read and review! Hope you enjoy.

**CHAPTER ONE **

"Are we there yet?" Meredith asked Derek from the passenger seat of his car.

"How old are you? Nine?" Derek teased playfully as they drove over the rough terrain. Meredith yawned. They had only been driving for ninety minutes but that was a long time for Meredith, or any surgeon for that matter, to sit still in the same place. Meredith closed her eyes to try to nap but found herself thinking back to the conversation that she and Derek had had a week earlier. Derek had come clean to Meredith about kissing Rose and was overjoyed that she didn't want him to see anyone else. He had proposed a weekend getaway to reignite their relationship away from the distractions of the hospital and the gossip grapevine of those who worked there.

"Where should we go?" Meredith had asked, with romantic curiosity as they scrubbed in for a surgery together. "Wine country?"

"I was thinking camping," Derek had replied.

"Camping?" Meredith made a face.

"You don't like camping?" Derek asked.

"I've never been camping," Meredith confessed.

"You've never been camping?" Derek asked surprised. "How is that possible?"

"Well my mother wasn't exactly the kind to take a day off work and daddy seemed to have other priorities," Meredith said with wry sarcasm.

"Well it's settled," Derek had said. "I'm taking you camping."

"Sleeping on the ground doesn't exactly sound like my idea of romance, Derek." Meredith said.

"Oh Mer, you'll love it! We can go on long walks, sleep under the stars, go swimming, and look at cute animals. You'll have the time of your life."

"I'll take your word for it," Meredith had said as Derek kissed her.

Now it was just the two of them leaving Seattle together for a weekend of uninterrupted bliss. Meredith had anticipated that she would be feeling more nervous by this stage but she was doing fine. Actually, she was doing better than fine. She felt good. Christina would be proud.

"Here we are," Derek said as he stopped the car. "This is the spot."

"It looks exactly like the last three miles," Meredith said as she got out of the car and stretched her legs. Derek shot her a look. "I'm not complaining," she said. "I promise. So, what do we do now?" she asked.

"Now we set up our tent," Derek said.

"Howdy camper," a round little man said, approaching Meredith and Derek. "My name's Hank. This here is Rita, my wife," he said gesturing towards an equally round woman who was cooking over a fire. She waved in their direction. Meredith waved back politely back. "We're camped right over there. If you need anything just give us a holler."

"Why thank you, Hank," Derek said with a smile as Hank returned to Rita. "What nice people!" he said to Meredith. "See, this is what I love about camping. It brings out the best in people. Old fashioned hospitality." Meredith tried to keep herself from laughing.

"You're adorable," she said with a smile. "Just like an excited puppy dog." She looked at where Hank and Rita had pitched their tent. "I guess we're gonna have to keep our hollering to a dull roar," she said starting to laugh. "Might wake the neighbors." Derek laughed also.

"Alright, lets do this," Derek said, rubbing his hands together as though he was psyching himself up for a major surgery. He lifted his new tent out of the back of the four wheel drive. It was still in its box. He opened the box and threw the instructions onto the ground with disregard. Meredith picked the instructions up.

"Don't you need these?" she asked, holding them out to him.

"They all assemble the same," Derek said dismissively. "Why don't you go for a walk and soak up the wilderness and I'll get to work?"

"Sounds good to me," Meredith said with a smile.

Forty minutes later, after being surprisingly captivated by the beauty of the spot that Derek had chosen for their weekend away and deciding that it might be romantic after all, Meredith returned to the camping ground to see a stressed out and exhausted Derek sitting amongst a pile of material, pegs and metal poles. She couldn't help but laugh to herself.

"What happened?" she asked him.  
"I don't understand," Derek said, bewildered. "I operate on people's brains every day. I've rebuilt people's nervous systems. People who could have spent the rest of their lives in wheelchairs can walk because of me. You'd think I could put _this _together."

"But I thought they all assembled the same?" she asked Derek, tongue in cheek. Meredith picked the instructions up off the ground and again held them out to Derek. "Wanna have a look at these?" she asked. Derek nodded in defeat. Meredith gave the instructions to Derek and sat down behind him, wrapping her arms around him lovingly and kissing him on the cheek. It was a big step for Meredith to agree to come on this trip so anything more they both considered a bonus. Meredith read the instructions over Derek's shoulder and studied the pieces of the tent on the ground in front of him.

"These go together," she said, moving closer to the pieces and starting to put the tent together.

"I thought you said you'd never been camping," Derek said, watching Meredith.

"I haven't," Meredith answered. "I'm at the bottom of the surgical food chain. I'm just used to following instructions. In my experience attendings don't like being told what to do. Even by a lowly instruction manual." Derek had to agree with Meredith. He was impressed at the speed at which she had started putting the tent together and wondered if his skills had become rusty now that he was neat the very top of the surgical food chain and didn't have superiors to impress. He didn't take orders from anyone and he didn't have to learn nearly as much as the interns did. He told himself to stop overanalyzing the situation and watched astonished as Meredith had almost half of the tent erected.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks so much to those who have reviewed. I love reading what you think. Please continue to review (or start reviewing if you've just come across this) as I really appreciate it.

**CHAPTER 2**

"There!" Meredith said, happy with herself after assembling the whole tent herself without help from Derek who had been stumped on how to do it.

"They must have changed how they design them," Derek mumbled.

"What was that?" Meredith asked.

"The design…" Derek said, disgruntled. "They never used to make them like that."

"That's some woman you have there!" Hank, their camping neighbour called out from the river in front of them. "If it weren't for her you'd be sleeping under a tree tonight!"

"Yes, thank you, Hank!" Derek said with a false smile and wave. "Idiot," he mumbled to himself.

"Aww I thought you liked our neighbors!" Meredith said with a cheeky smile, teasing Derek. "Is somebody a bit grumpy about the tent?" she said with a little laugh. She went over to Derek and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. They started kissing more passionately, their arms wondering all over each other. Meredith broke away for a moment and unzipped the door of the tent.

"I thought this happened later," Derek said.

"Well we can stop if you want," Meredith smirked, stepping into the tent.

"No way," Derek said, following her into the tent, zipping it shut behind him. Meredith pulled Derek close to her and pressed her lips firmly against his. She pulled his shirt off over his head and pushed him down onto his back. Derek smiled at her seductively, enjoying every moment. Meredith took her shirt off and got on top of him. She undid his jeans and started kissing him heavily on the lips, nose, neck, chest, slowly working her way down. He liked it, she could tell. He was aroused now. He bit on her shoulder in ecstasy.

"Ow!" Meredith suddenly yelled.

"Sorry," Derek replied breathlessly.

"Ow!" Meredith yelled again. She stopped kissing Derek. "What is that?"

"Huh?" Derek asked. "Ow!" he suddenly yelled. "Ants!" Meredith moved away from Derek and looked at her feet which were covered in black ants.

"Ow!" she said, over and over, hitting them which resulted in them latching into her hands and then crawling up her arms. Meredith looked over at Derek who was hitting the ants which were crawling all over him.

"You set the tent up on a nest!" Derek shouted. "Ouch!" he yelled, still trying to get the ants off him.

"I would have seen a nest!" Meredith yelled back. "How would they get in here? They probably attached when you had the tent lying on the ground while you couldn't set it up!"

"Oh so this is my fault now?" Derek asked. "They're in my underwear!" he suddenly yelled. "Oh God! Oh God!" He ran out of the tent.

"Well it's not my fault!" Meredith shouted out after him. Derek ran towards the river wearing only his underwear and jumped in when he reached the water. Meredith followed him in her jeans and bra, also jumping in the water in an effort to get rid of the ants. When they hit the water they splashed around trying desperately to drown the ants and get them away from them. Finally they calmed when they were sure that they had removed them all.

"Little bastards!" Derek said, exhausted.

"I didn't know ants could hurt so much," Meredith said, examining the bites on her arm.

"Oh yes they can," Hank, their camping neighbor, said as he walked down towards them at the river. Derek and Meredith blushed with embarrassment when they realised that he had seen them running towards the river scantly clad and shouting. They were even more embarrassed when they saw Rita, Hank's wife, sitting outside their tent on a deck chair having witnessed the whole thing.

"We have some creams that'll numb it for you," she shouted. "Come on over here!" Derek and Meredith slowly and shamefully made their way out of the water to their tent where they managed to get some towels from their bags without alerting the ants to their presence. They went over to Hank and Rita's tent.

"Take a seat," Hank said.

"Thanks," Derek said as he and Meredith sat in the seats that Hank and Rita had occupied. Rita bought over a tube of cream and started applying it to Meredith's arms.

"I can do it," Meredith insisted.

"She doesn't like people touching her," Derek said.

"Except you obviously," Rita said, laughing extremely loud. Meredith wondered what she had got herself into. "I insist, sweetheart. Those bites hurt," Rita said. "I don't want them to get infected."

"They won't get infected," Derek said, almost bluntly.

"Well, are you a doctor?" Rita asked as she continued applying the cream to Meredith with brute force.

"Yes actually I am," Derek said. Meredith cringed, silently cursing Derek for breaking one of the unwritten rules of their occupation.

"Really?" Hank said. "Funny you should mention that. You see, I have this funny skin pigmentation and, well, my doctor says that it's nothing but I don't know. I'd really love a second opinion."

"So much for not bringing work with us," Meredith muttered.

"I know what it's like to be the wife of a career man," Rita said, putting her arm around Meredith. "Us girls have got to stick together."

"Well actually…" Meredith started.

"Okay, your turn!" Rita said to Derek who was struggling to see the pigmentation that Hank was so concerned about.

"I'm sure it's not cancer," Derek said.

"Oh thank the lord!" Hank replied. Rita started putting the cream all over Derek. She seemed to really enjoy feeling his muscular physique as she did this.

"Did I miss any spots?" she asked.

"Um… well," Derek said embarrassed, looking down his underwear wondering whether he could do without the numbing cream but it hurt too much. "I… uh…"

"They bit him in the crotch," Meredith said.

"Oh well…," Rita said, seemingly excited. "Well have to-" she tugged at Derek's underwear.

"No!" Derek shouted, louder than he meant to. "I'll do it. Sorry. I didn't mean to yell… just… I can do it." Rita gave him the cream and he walked awkwardly back to the tent. "Coming?" he asked Meredith.

"Thank you very much for your assistance," Meredith said to Hank and Rita as she followed Derek. "I thought that you said there'd be cute animals here," she said as she caught up with Derek who was still in obvious pain from the bites. He unzipped the tent.

"Oh crap," Meredith said as they saw ants everywhere on the floor of the tent.

"I'm going to go into the forest to… apply this," Derek said. Meredith couldn't help laughing a little at the whole situation once Derek was out of sight.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

"I think they bit my eyes," Meredith moaned as she and Derek sat in the chairs that they had bought along for their camping trip. "Everything hurts." She looked over at Derek who had a wet towel covering his head. "Are you alive?"

"No," Derek replied woefully from under the towel. "This was not supposed to happen." Meredith pulled the towel off Derek's head to see him looking miserable and covered in tiny pink lumps. Meredith couldn't help laughing. "You're so cute," she said lovingly. Seeing Meredith laugh made Derek smile. "Come on. We can't just sit here," Meredith said.

"Why not?" Derek asked. "We're surgeons. We never get to just sit. I like just sitting." Meredith stood up gingerly. "What did you wanna show me out here anyway?" she asked. "We didn't drive into the middle of no where to sit in chairs and cry about ants."

"Well," Derek said, with a glint in his eye. "There's a beautiful lookout about two miles away. We could be there before the sun sets and have a picnic at the lookout." Meredith smiled.

"Now you're talking," she said. "You get some food. I'll find a map."

"We don't need the map," Derek said.

"You also said you didn't need the instructions for the tent," Meredith said with a smirk. "I'll get the map."

"Ready to go?" Derek asked after he had prepared a picnic basket full of food and wine for their dinner, making sure that no ants had found their way in. Meredith nodded as Derek took her hand in his and they started walking. For a while they didn't say anything. It was enough to just be in each other's company without the distractions of pagers, patients and gossip that seemed to surround them every day.

"Look," Derek said eventually. He pointed into a tree.

"I can't see anything," Meredith said, following his gaze.

"Eastern grey squirrel," he said.

"Oh yeah!" Meredith said, seeing it now. "It's cute!" She pulled her camera out of her satchel and took a photograph.

"Look at us," Derek said as they continued walking hand in hand. "Picnic basket, camera. We could pass for normal."

"Good one," Meredith said with a laugh.

Derek checked his watch as they reached the spot. It was as beautiful as he remembered it. They had arrived just as the sun had begun to set.

"Come and sit over here," Derek said, taking Meredith to the edge of the lookout. The view was spectacular. They sat down and Derek opened the picnic basket, taking a bottle and two wine glasses out. He poured the wine and took out the food from the deli that he had prepared.

"I feel like a princess," Meredith said watching him.

"Good," Derek replied as he made them sandwiches. "I feel like a housewife." They looked at each other and laughed.

"This sunset is amazing," Meredith said in wonder. She took another photograph.

Derek and Meredith ate, talked and laughed as they watched the sun set together, enjoying good food and wine. Then they relaxed on the grass and watched the stars begin to come out.

"We should get back," Derek said when it was dark. "It's getting cold." Meredith nodded and stretched out on the ground before sitting up. She pulled the map out of her satchel and squinted to try and see it. "Can you pass me the torch?" she asked.

"I didn't bring the torch," Derek answered.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"I bought the picnic basket," Derek said. "You were supposed to bring the torch."

"No, I was supposed to bring the map," Meredith corrected him. "What are we gonna do?"

"I have a light on my watch," Derek said, switching the faint light on. He laughed at the glare Meredith shot him.

"This isn't funny!" Meredith said, hitting Derek on the arm. It's freezing cold out here. She searched through her satchel hoping that a torch would magically appear. "I knew it," she said moodily.

"Knew what?" Derek asked. He didn't appear nearly as stressed as Meredith was.

"Tonight was nice. Tonight I thought my luck was changing. This is the story of my life. Just as I start to relax and enjoy life, despite the ants, something bad happens."

"Aww Mer, relax," Derek said sweetly, massaging her shoulders with his hands. She was shivering. Derek took his warm coat off and wrapped it around her, kissing her on the cheek and neck. "Better?" he asked. Meredith nodded.

"Well, we have two options," he said. "We can sleep out here all night."

"No," Meredith replied. "I've already died once and I don't plan on doing it again for a long time."

"The other option is to walk back with my watch light. It's only two miles. The walking will warm us up and I know this place like the back of my hand."

"Fine," Meredith sighed. She looked through her satchel again. "I suppose the compass won't help in the dark." Derek pulled her up off the ground and gave her a hug.

"No sweetie. Where did you find a compass?"

"In your backpack," Meredith replied.

"Oh I forgot about that. I must have left it there from last time. It's my good luck charm. It was my grandfathers."

"You have a grandfather?" Meredith asked as they started walking back through the darkness, hand in hand.

"Had," Derek replied.

"I never knew that," Meredith said.

"Really?" Derek asked. "Because most people have at least one." Meredith shot him a look that he didn't see in the darkness.

"How did he die?" Meredith asked.

"He was attacked by a wild animal one night on a camping trip." Meredith stopped suddenly. "I'm kidding," Derek said laughing.

"That is so not funny," Meredith said.

"He had a heart attack," Derek said.

"Some good luck charm," Meredith said bitterly

"I think you're scared," Derek said.

"Yes I am," Meredith snapped. "I'm in the middle of no where. I'm freakin' freezing, I don't know what's out there, I-" Derek interrupted her with a passionate kiss.

"We're alone, we're not being bothered by anyone, we're together, we're in a beautiful part of the country. I've seen you smile and laugh more times today than I have in ages. It's all about how you look at it, Mer." Meredith didn't want to admit it but she knew he was right. They walked in silence for awhile. "And we're back," Derek said. Just as he'd promised, they had arrived back to the camp site in no time.

"I'm ready for bed," Meredith said, yawning. "This is way too much excitement for me."

"Sounds like a plan," Derek agreed. Thankfully they could see due to the light of the fire that Hank and Rita had lit outside their tent. They unzipped the tent only to remember the ants that had moved in.

"Ah crap," Meredith said. "We didn't get to clean the tent out." Derek shrugged.

"So we'll sleep under the stars," he said. He went to his car and pulled out their sleeping bags and some blankets. They set them up on a piece of tarp. Derek then lit a small fire for warmth and they got into their sleeping bags and snuggled in together, looking up at the stars.

"This is nice," Meredith said with a satisfied smile.

"Yes it is," Derek agreed as they shared a kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Meredith awoke late the next morning to the sound of the birds whistling, feeling calm and at ease. Before she opened her eyes she could feel the sun's rays beating down on her, in a stark contrast to the freezing cold air that had enveloped them the night before. Meredith kept her eyes closed and smiled to herself, feeling Derek's head resting against her chest. She gently ran her fingers through his thick hair and breathed in deeply as she felt how soft it was. Suddenly she felt teeth gnaw at her hand.

"Ow, Derek!" Meredith yelled, shocked. She opened her eyes and looked down at her chest to see the biggest squirrel that she had ever seen in her life attached to her fingers. She screamed and tried to swat it away but it was latched on firmly. Meredith jumped to her feet, forgetting that she was in her sleeping bag. She managed to stand for a second in the thick material sack, with the squirrel still attached to her hand, before losing her balance and tumbling forward in the opposite direction and landing flat on her stomach on the dirty ground, the impact sending dirt into the air and onto her face and the squirrel running for cover.

"Ugh…" Meredith moaned. She spat dirt out of her mouth and looked through the haze to see Derek standing by a rock, holding a fishing rod and laughing. "Help me!" Meredith hissed angrily.

"Oh, sorry," Derek said, still laughing. He unzipped the sleeping bag and helped Meredith to her feet. He brushed the dirt off her body, led her to the river and splashed some water on her face to get rid of the remaining dirt.

"Stop laughing!" Meredith said angrily as Derek chuckled to himself.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just wish I'd brought my video camera."

"It's not funny!" Meredith said, looking into the river. "I guess I should count myself lucky that a piranha didn't jump out of the water and eat my face just then."

"They don't get piranha here," Derek said, matter of factly.

"That's not my point!" Meredith said, frustrated. "Why the hell was a squirrel biting my hand anyway?"

"It could probably smell last night's dinner on you," Derek replied. "I thought it was cute how you were petting it so lovingly when you woke up."

"I thought it was you!" Meredith said through clenched teeth.

"You thought I was a squirrel?" Derek asked in deadpan voice.

"You just have very soft hair," Meredith argued. She locked eyes with Derek and they started laughing. "Stop laughing!" she said, playfully hitting him.

"You're laughing too!" Derek protested. They laughed more until they were exhausted. Derek went over to his backpack, pulled out some band aids and applied them to Meredith's hand which had temporary teeth marks embedded in it.

"So you're fishing," Meredith observed when the band aids had been applied.

"I was but I have a better idea," Derek said with a mysterious grin. He took his shirt off.

"Hmmm," Meredith said, smiling. "I like the look of this."

"Skinny dipping!" Derek said with a big grin. "Surely you've been skinny dipping before."

"Can't say I have," Meredith replied.

"You're kidding?" Derek replied. "Oh it's the best. And out here you can be at one with nature." He took his jeans off and pointed to the fire. "I've started cooking us fish for breakfast. It'll be done in ten minutes."

"What about the neighbors?" Meredith asked self consciously.

"They're walking the Nixon trail," Derek replied. "It's twelve miles. They just left. They'll be gone for hours."

"Well in that case…" Meredith said with a seductive smile, taking her clothes off and allowing Derek to lead her to the water.

The temperature was just right. They allowed themselves to be immersed in the water and wrapped their arms around each other, kissing softly.

"Mmm this is nice," Meredith said.

"It is," Derek replied.

"I could just stay he- ARRRGH! WHAT WAS THAT?!" Meredith screamed.

"It was my leg! Which you just kicked, hard!" Derek replied.

"Sorry," Meredith said apologetically. "I think I'm still jumpy from the squirrel incident." They burst out laughing again at the thought of that morning's events. "Sorry," Meredith said again. "Where were we?"

"Right about here," Derek said, taking her face in his hands and kissing her passionately.

"Ah yes, I remember now," Meredith said seductively, returning the favour. They stayed like this, kissing and caressing, enjoying each other's company in the solitude of the wilderness until they heard a familiar voice.

"You're fish is startin' to burn!" Hank yelled out. "Ya'll wanna get to it soon or ya'll be eatin' ashes for breakfast."

"I thought you said they were hiking!" Meredith whispered, annoyed. "Way to kill a mood!"

"Thanks, Hank," Derek said with a pretend smile and a wave. He and Meredith had swum out into the river so it wasn't obvious that they were skinny dipping. "Weren't you hiking?"

"We sure were," Hank said. "And what a beautiful hike it was. I highly recommend the Nixon trail. Two miles of the most beautiful scenery imaginable."

"Two miles?" Meredith whispered angrily to Derek.

"Isn't the Nixon trail twelve miles?" Derek asked, trying to sound relaxed.

"Oh no, doctor. That's the Johnson trail. I don't think this body could hold up over that distance."

"Crap," Derek whispered to himself. "Hey Hank, why don't you have our fish? We're enjoying our swim out here."

"Why that's mighty nice of you," Hank replied. "I'll do that right now. We're just gonna stay outside our tent all day. You won't even know we're here."

"Sounds great," Derek said continuing his pretend smile.

"Well this is just wonderful," Meredith said sarcastically to Derek. "Not only are we stuck in a river, naked, but they're eating our breakfast."

"Well you can go and get it," Derek teased. Meredith glared at him as he started to laugh. "Oh come on, you've gotta admit that this is kinda funny," he said. Meredith looked over at Hank and Rita who were perched outside their tent, overlooking the river. There was no possible way that they could escape the river without being seen.

"Not really," Meredith replied.  
"We could go and have sex behind that big rock over there?" Derek suggested. Meredith glared at him.

"For some reason I'm not in the mood," Meredith said, starting to swim away.

"Where are you gonna go?" Derek asked jokingly. Meredith started laughing at the whole situation.

"If I don't laugh I'll cry," she explained.

"I know," Derek replied, also laughing.

"This," Meredith said, gesturing to the wilderness sounding them, is why we should stick to surgery. That's all we know how to do. We spend so much time in the hospital and spend so much time studying that we are socially inept and don't have the basic life skills to set up a tent, remember to bring a torch, read an instruction manual or keep our damn clothes on!"

"This is true," Derek replied as they both laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the lack of updates, guys. I've been very sick. Here's an update for you. I hope that you're still enjoying this fic.

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Three hours later, Meredith and Derek were still in the water.

"Got any more brilliant ideas?" Meredith asked Derek, bitterly.

"You're so cute when you're pissed off," Derek said lovingly.

"Stop it," Meredith warned. "I'm tired, I'm naked, I'm cold and I've been in the water for so long that I'm more wrinkled than really old guy." Derek laughed again. Meredith splashed water at him and Derek splashed back. Soon they were engaged in a splashing match, Meredith's bitterness turning quickly to laughter.

"I'm getting out," Meredith announced.

"What?" Derek replied.

"Seriously, what are the odds that we'll ever see our friendly neighbors again?" Meredith asked. "So they see me naked. Who hasn't? I don't care anymore." Derek laughed, not believing that Meredith would get out of the water in full view of Hank and Rita but to his surprise, she did.

"Oh my," Hank said as Meredith got out of the water and ran over to the tent.

"Stop looking, Hank!" Rita shouted at Hank who was transfixed. "Hank!" Rita shouted again, hitting him on the arm with a spatula. "Stop looking at that ripe, young woman."

Derek swam close to the edge of the water.

"Meredith, pass me my towel," he said to Meredith who was wrapped up in a big towel, shivering.

"No," Meredith replied. Derek looked confused. "It was your idea go to skinny dipping and I had to do the walk of shame. You can do it too."

"Okay, Meredith, let's be mature about this," Derek said calmly, in a tone that he usually used on his patients. Meredith turned around and went into the tent where she picked Derek's towel up out of his bag and held it up. "Come and get it, baby," she teased.

"Fine," Derek said, less than amused. He jumped out of the water, kept his head down and ran into the tent to where Meredith was. She laughed and laughed as he took his towel from her. As annoyed as Derek was, he was happy to see Meredith laughing freely, even if it was at his expense.

"Rita!" Hank shouted at his wife as they sat on their camping chairs outside their tent. "Rita! You tell me not to stare at the young woman and you're gettin' all hot and bothered for the doctor over the there." He took the spatula from his wife and waved it in front of her face.

"I was not," Rita said, flushed in the face and obviously lying.

&&&

Once Meredith and Derek were dressed inside their tent they cleaned it out, removing every last trace of the ants that had inhabited it the day before. When they were finished, they moved their things into the tent and laid down, staring at the roof, side by side.

"Camping is exhausting," Meredith said.

"I don't ever remember it being this exhausting before," Derek said. Suddenly it started to rain. Derek yawned. "I need a nap. I never get to nap during the day."

"The wilderness hates me," Meredith said.

"Not quite. At least we got all our stuff in the tent before it started raining," Derek said. "The wilderness does not hate you. I need sleep," he said, rolling into his stomach and draping an arm lovingly around Meredith. He started to doze off. Meredith snuggled in closer to Derek and allowed herself to be enveloped by his warmth. It felt so good to have him close to her again. She had missed him. She fell asleep with his strong arms holding her comfortingly

&&&

Meredith awoke not long after to what sounded like someone in distress. The rain had stopped and she made sure that it wasn't the sound of a wild animal. It was Rita, she realised.

"Derek!" Meredith said, urgently, nudging Derek in an attempt to rouse him. "Derek!"

"What?" Derek murmured, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Do you hear that?"

"No," Derek said, rolling over.

"Derek!" Meredith said again, nudging him harder this time. "Wake up!" Derek sat up, upon hearing the noise.

"What's that?" he asked, suddenly alert.

"It's Rita," Meredith said. "I think she's in trouble."

"Wait… it stopped," Derek said. They heard a deep moan followed by a growling sound.

"Something's attacking her!" Meredith said, sounding panicky. "What if it's the squirrel from this morning?"

"It sounds like something bigger than a squirrel," Derek said, springing into action. "It could be a bear."

"There's bears here?" Meredith shouted louder than she meant to, sounding exasperated and full of dread. "Oh my God. The wilderness really does hate me." Derek peered out of the tent. He could tell that something was inside the tent with Rita. He wondered where Hank was. Derek picked up a large stick and inched closer to Hank and Rita's tent.

"Wait!" Meredith shouted after him. "You can't go in there. What If it attacks you?" Derek hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Well I can't just let her get eaten alive," he retorted. Meredith looked around and picked up a stick that was almost as big as she was.

"I'll follow you," she said.

"You have tiny ineffectual fists, remember?" Derek said adoringly as they crept closer to Hank and Rita's tent.

"Well maybe I'll distract the bear," Meredith replied, annoyed. "It can chew on me while you save Rita."

"That's very kind of you," Derek replied. They inched closer to the tent.

"Not really. It's the story of my life," Meredith replied. "It's what the wilderness wants. Why should I fight it?"

Derek and Meredith, clutching enormous sticks, reached Hank and Rita's tent. The zip was partially undone. Throwing caution to the wind, Derek, ripped the tent open and yelled out aggressively, waving the stick around to scare off the bear. He soon realised that there was no bear. Instead, they had interrupted Hank and Rita's noisy and steamy sex romp.

"Oh my God," Derek said, feeling as though he could die of embarrassment right there. "I… uh…"

"Hello there," Rita said back, not the least embarrassed, as Hank scrambled to find something to cover himself with.

Meredith, figuring that there was no threat after all, peered into the tent.

"Oh my…" she said, averting her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Derek managed to stammer to Rita. "I thought there was a bear."

"I'm that bear," Hank said, disgruntled.

"I see that," Derek stammered. "I'm gonna leave you two to… um… you know…" Meredith took Derek by the arm and led him away. She couldn't contain her laughter.

"This is your fault," Derek said, blushing with embarrassment as they went back to their tent. "You woke me up."

"I never said there was a bear," Meredith said though giggles. "That was all you."

"He sounded like a bear!" Derek said defensively. "I don't sound like that, do I?" he asked. Meredith was still giggling. "Oh I do not!" Derek said as they went back into the tent. He picked a pillow up and threw it at Meredith who laughed even more and threw it back at him.

"You do realise that after seeing you naked before Rita was thinking of you and not Hank," Meredith said through her laughter. Derek threw the pillow back at Meredith.

"Well I bet Hank was thinking of you. He did get quite a show before."

"Eww!" Meredith replied at the thought. She dived on top of Derek and squealed as he tickled her. Derek rolled Meredith onto her back and kissed her passionately. Meredith quivered with pleasure as Derek's lips moved to her neck.

"Let's give them some competition," he whispered into her ear.


	6. Chapter 6

Just letting you know that this is the second last chapter 

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and please continue to let me know what you think.

**CHAPTER SIX**

"I'm so sorry," Derek said as he and Meredith lay flat on their backs, staring at the roof of the tent. "I swear this is the first time it's ever happened to me."

"Don't worry," Meredith said, not taking her eyes off the tent roof. "It happens to guys all the time. It doesn't mean they're not in the mood. It's purely physiological. No big deal."

"I just… can't get the thought of them… you know… out of my head," Derek said, sounding traumatized. "They were so…"

"Aggressive?" Meredith volunteered.

"Yes," Derek said. "And they're so…"

"Overweight? I know," Meredith said. "I saw it too."

"Every time I close my eyes I just keep seeing them…"

"I know. Me too," Meredith said. "Can we just cuddle tonight?"

"I think that's a good idea," Derek said, wrapping a muscular arm around Meredith and pulling her close to him.

"At least Rita wasn't being ravaged by a bear," Meredith volunteered.

"I don't know which image would have been worse," Derek admitted.

They continued to stare at the roof of the tent, traumatized and wondering if they'd ever get the image of Hank and Rita's naked bodies out of their heads.

&&&

At four AM, Meredith and Derek still hadn't slept a wink. They were still wide awake, not daring to close their eyes for too long in case they started dreaming of what they had seen earlier. Meredith unzipped the tent a little bit.

"I think I can see the sun rising," she lied. Derek leaned over and looked out of the tent.

"Oh yeah, me too," he also lied. "We should get a head start. It's a long drive back."

"I agree," Meredith said. "We have to work tomorrow." Meredith and Derek hurriedly dressed in silence and disassembled the tent at record speed. They shoved the pieces in the box, not caring about how disorganized it was, and threw it in the car, along with the rest of their belongings. Meredith pulled her camera out of her backpack.

"One last photograph," she said to Derek. She stretched her arm out and took a picture of them posing in the wilderness with pretend smiles. They then got into the car and Derek began the drive back to Seattle.

They drove in silence for an hour.

"Okay. I have some rules for the next vacation," Meredith finally said, breaking the silence.

"What are they?" Derek asked, yawning.

"No camping," Meredith started.

"Agreed," Derek volunteered.

"No skinny dipping, no ants, no squirrels, no animals of any kind. No sleeping on the ground, No hiking, no forgetting torches, no fishing, no neighbors, no rain, no winter, no vacations that require assembling anything or anything with instructions –" Derek started laughing. "What?" Meredith asked, slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Meredith asked. "If you tell me I'm cute when I'm angry again I'll punch you." Derek shook his head.

"This was the most disastrous vacation I've ever been on," he said.

"I know," Meredith agreed, not understanding why he was laughing.

"But I don't think I've ever had so much fun in my life." Meredith smiled a little but tried to suppress it. "Think about it," Derek said. "When was the last time you laughed that hard? I don't think I've ever seen you laugh like that. Think about the stories we can tell the grandkids." After he said this, Derek immediately regretted it. Meredith had just managed to relax and he feared that he'd blown it. He nervously looked over at her but to his surprise he found her smiling to herself, watching the sun begin to rise out of the front window.

"It certainly was a unique weekend," she said to herself. "But I think I need another vacation to get over this one."

"I know just the thing," Derek said with a twinkle in his eye. Meredith looked at him with dread.

"No more," she begged. "I just wanna go home and sleep in a bed."

"So do I," Derek said.

"Seriously, I'll never call the hospital exhausting again." Derek pulled up on the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Meredith asked. She looked out of the windows but there was no landmark in sight.

"I just have to make a call," Derek said, opening his door and stepping out. "Try and get some sleep."

After Derek had finished on the phone, he got back into the car to find that Meredith had indeed fallen asleep. He lovingly ran his hand down the side of her cheek and she murmured contently. Derek started the car again and drove to their destination.

&&&

"Meredith," Derek whispered, gently nudging her to try and wake her up. "Meredith, come in wake up. We're here." Meredith slowly stirred awake. She yawned and stretched out her arms.

"Where are we?" she asked, as he eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She sat up in her seat and read the writing on the enormous building in front of her. 'HILTON SEATTLE' it read.

"Thank you," Meredith whispered wearily as Derek opened her door and helped her out of the car. Exhausted, the weary campers walked into the extravagant foyer of the hotel.

"Thanks, Isaac," Derek said with a smile, tipping a man in a suit as he lead them straight to the elevator.

"No problem at all, Doctor Shepherd," Isaac said with a smile. "Enjoy your stay." He handed Derek a key. Derek and Meredith rode the elevator to the fifth floor and found their hotel room. Meredith looked visibly impressed as they entered the spacious, luxurious room. Her eyes wondered to the plush looking bed.

"One more thing," Derek said, gently leading Meredith into the bathroom.

"Yesss," Meredith said quietly as she noticed the bubble bath in front of them, steaming with hot water. "You know the way to a woman's heart," she said to Derek. Derek smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"Ewww," he said suddenly, pulling at a piece of her hair.

"Ow!" Meredith exclaimed. "What?"

"You have ants in your hair," Derek said. "And it smells weird."

"Shut up," Meredith snapped, only half serious. "I told you the wilderness hates me."

Derek and Meredith undressed and climbed into the hot, jasmine scented bubble bath. They both moaned with pleasure as their worn out bodies hit the hot water.

When they were both scrubbed clean, they wrapped themselves in the hotel bathrobes and climbed into the soft bed.

"This is heaven," Meredith said as she pulled the soft sheets up around her and stretched out.

"Yeah it is," Derek said, snuggling closer to Meredith and pulling her into him, breathing her in.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone, this is the final chapter, I'm sad to say. Meredith and Derek's camping trip has finished. I hope that you've enjoyed this fic. I've certainly enjoyed writing it. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Please leave your reviews one last time for me.

All the best.

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Meredith and Derek slept all through the day and most of the night. The next morning they awoke, happy and well rested in their luxurious hotel room.

"Good morning," Derek said, kissing Meredith on the lips.

"Hey," Meredith said with a smile, running her hand down the side of Derek's face. "Now this is what I call a great vacation. No wilderness, no rain."

"No ants," Derek added. "I agree," he said, kissing Meredith tenderly. "This is much less stressful." He yawned and stretched out. "We should get ready for work." Meredith nodded and got out of bed. She smiled cheekily at Derek and pulled him out of bed.

"Let's save on water," she said seductively, pulling Derek's bathrobe off.

"How environmentally conscious of you," Derek replied, returning the favour. Meredith and Derek climbed into the spacious shower. Meredith pushed Derek up against the wall and kissed him passionately. Derek ran his fingers through Meredith's hair with one hand and with his other hand he turned the hot water faucet on. It took a moment for the water to come but when it did, ice cold jets of water blasted them both. Derek and Meredith ran from the shower screaming.

"Way to kill a mood, Derek!" Meredith snapped, shivering.

"Sorry," Derek replied, his teeth chattering. "I must have got the wrong faucet." He jumped back into the shower and checked it. Meredith wrapped a towel around her to warm up and watched as Derek fiddled with the taps for a few minutes. It was obvious that the hot water wasn't working. Finally, Derek got back out of the shower. "There's no hot water," he said.

"Really?" Meredith asked, sarcastically.

"Do you still want to-" Derek started to ask.

"No," Meredith said, slightly annoyed. "I just want a hot shower. This is the Hilton for God's sake." Meredith went back into the bedroom and got dressed for work.

&&&

Derek phoned administration who apologized profusely for the hot water issue. As they made their way through the foyer, Derek tipped, Isaac, the hotel worker from the day before who handed Derek an envelope.

"What's that?" Meredith asked. Derek handed Meredith the envelope.

"I asked Isaac to print the camping pictures from your camera," Derek said. Meredith opened the envelope as they walked to the car. She smiled to herself as she flicked through the photographs. There were some lovely pictures of her and Derek together, smiling and looking at ease. She handed them to Derek who also smiled as he looked through them.

"Aww, well it wasn't all bad then," he said.

"No, it wasn't," Meredith said. When they reached the car they noticed the scattered tent pieces and camping supplies that had been shoved in the back of the car as they had made their desperate escape from the camping site the day before. Meredith and Derek looked at each other and burst out laughing at the memories of their panicked exit from the site and their neighbors.

&&&

I think I'll frame this one," Meredith said as Derek drove to the hospital. She held her favourite photograph, the one from their picnic the first night, up so that Derek could see it. He smiled.

"I like that one," he said. "I want a copy too." Meredith sat back, feeling more content and relaxed about her life than she thought she'd ever been before. Despite the weekend that they had had, she knew that they were in a good place. Romantically anyway.

As soon as they reached the surgical ward of the hospital they were greeted by an excited Izzie.

"Hey!" she said, happily. "How are the happy campers? How was the romantic get away?" Derek laughed when Izzie said 'romantic.' Meredith smiled cheekily. _If only she knew, _she thought to herself.

"So, how was it?" Izzie asked again.

"Yeah, how was it," George asked, joining them.

"Thank God you're back," Cristina said to Meredith as she also joined the group.

"It was uh…" Derek started. He looked at Meredith. "How would you describe it?"

"Well…" Meredith said. "It certainly was eventful." Cristina snatched the photographs out of Meredith's hands and started flicking through them. The photographs had been taken at the few and far between serene moments on their camping adventure with Meredith and Derek looking carefree. Not exactly an accurate reflection of the weekend.

"Wow, looks like you two had an excellent weekend away," George said, looking over Cristina's shoulder.

"You're going soft," Cristina said, unamused as she finished looking through the pictures. Izzie took them from her and began 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over them.

"That's enough chit chat," Bailey said, interrupting the reunion. "Doctor Shepherd, Doctor Grey, good to have you back." Derek smiled and started to walk away.

"Doctor Shepherd?" Bailey said. Derek turned back around. "I was just about to page you. They need a neuro consult in the ER."

"I'll be right on it," Derek said. Bailey couldn't help noticing that he looked worn out. "Grey, you haven't been assigned yet. You can take this case too." Meredith nodded, trying to suppress a yawn. Derek and Meredith headed down to the pit.

"Yeah, I bet you're tired," Bailey said to herself, watching them. She shook her head. "Young love."

Two of Meredith's interns were waiting for her in the pit. "Can you please get us two espressos?" Derek asked. Handing a twenty dollar note to one of the interns. "Extra strong."

"Of course, Doctor Shepherd," the intern said, rushing off to do as he was told. Meredith looked at Derek, surprised.

"You did not just make my intern fetch coffee," she said in disbelief. "You never do that. That's Mark's thing."

"I'm sorry. I'm exhausted," Derek admitted. Meredith shrugged. She didn't want to fight it. She needed to conserve the little energy that she had. Anyway, she thought, an espresso might pep her up.

"What do we have?" Meredith asked her other intern.

"This is Hank Rosewood," the intern said. "He presented with a rash that we can't actually see but he swears it's there and has been complaining of headaches. We were going to do a CT scan but thought we should page you first."

"Okay," Derek said, looking up from the patient chart. "Meredith?" he asked, noticing the shocked expression on her face. "What? He looked at the patient and immediately recognised him.

"Why howdy there, campers!" Hank said, enthusiastically. "You left so damn quickly we never got a chance to say goodbye!" Derek and Meredith tried to smile. "Rita!" Hank called. "Rita! Look who it is!"

"Look who it is, Derek!" Meredith said with fake enthusiasm through her teeth.

"Oh my Lord!" Rita exclaimed in a high pitched voice. "Well isn't it a small world! This is going to be so much fun."

"Here we go again," Derek said under his breath.


End file.
